Celebrating the Victorian Era

Year 6 celebrating all things Victorian

To mark the end of our Victorian topic, Year 6 celebrated in a number of ways:

• Children designed and constructed their own Victorian costumes and dressed up for the day to visit Kensington Palace and mark the 200th year anniversary of Queen Victoria’s birth.  The children absolutely looked the part, impressing all passers-by and tourists alike at the museum.  They added to the ambience of Kensington Palace and many remarked on the children’s authentic presence.   One pupil remarked, “I felt like a celebrity with all the admiration, but I know Victorian children were far from treated nicely and I won’t forget how lucky I am to be born in this era.”
• Victorian Day at school – this was a further opportunity to dress up.  However, this was no ordinary day at school.  Instead, Year 6 was plunged into darkness with a virtual black-out of all classroom colour and resources.  Even signs of all modern technology were shrouded in an attempt to create the atmosphere of a Victorian Ragged School.  Children were met with harsh discipline:  They were expected to maintain their gaze to the ground at all times and keep their hands stretched out on the table where ‘the devil could do no harm’.  The dunces hat caused humiliation (but  a lot of giggles too) and lessons consisted of reciting the three R’s and famous Victorian proverbs…Cleanliness is next to Godliness, time and tide wait for no man, children should be seen and not heard were amongst the many they memorised through rote learning.
• I took the opportunity to include D.T and Year 6 made some wonderful Victorian artefacts – Victorian Christmas tree decorations and the classic toy from the age – a cup and ball.